"The media has played its own role in fanning the flames. Since Donald Trump entered the Oval Office, news reports have proliferated about rising raids, arrests, detentions, and deportations. These suggest that something new, terrifying, and distinctly Trumpian—something we’ve simply never seen before—is underway, including mass sweeps to deport individuals who would have been protected under the previous administration.
The numbers tell a different story.
A Washington Post scare headline typically read: “ICE Immigration Arrests of Noncriminals Double Under Trump.” While accurate, it was nonetheless misleading. Non-criminal immigration arrests did indeed jump from 2,500 in the first three months of 2016 to 5,500 during the same period in 2017, while criminal arrests also rose, bringing the total to 21,000. Only 16,000 were arrested during the same months in 2016. The article, however, ignored the fact that 2016 was the all-time-low year for arrests under President Obama. In the first three months of 2014, for example, 29,000 were arrested, far more than Trump’s three month “record.”

And even though arrests went up during Trump’s first three months in office, deportations actually went down, mostly due to the fact that the number of immigrants crossing the border declined.

To those who have been following deportation politics in this country, Trump’s policies, as they are now unfolding, have an eerie resonance. They seem to be growing directly out of policies first instituted in the presidencies of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama."

According to the case-by-case court records analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University, during March 2017 there were 318 new federal civil filings involving these immigration matters. This number is up 5.6 percent over the previous month when the number of civil filings of this type totaled 301. See Table 1.
When monthly 2017 civil immigration filings are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, their number was up 40.5 percent. Civil filings for March 2017 are higher than they were for the same period five years ago. Overall, the data show that civil filings of this type are up 105.6 percent from levels reported in March 2012.

TRAC also determined that:

Nearly half (47%) of the 763 suits filed since January 20, 2017 were brought by individuals detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These individuals sought release from their detention and/or a court order to prevent their deportation. Most of the remaining suits challenged government inaction. One third (33%) were mandamus suits to compel the federal government to act on visa or related applications. Another 8 percent sought a hearing or other action on naturalization applications.

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2017 the government reported 4198 new immigration convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 16.7 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants convicted for immigration-related offenses are based on case-by-case information obtained by TRAC under the Freedom of Information Act from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (see Table 1).
When monthly 2017 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was down (-16.3%). Convictions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are down 27.4 percent from levels reported in 2012.

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2017 the government reported 4301 new immigration prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 7.4 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with immigration-related offenses are based on case-by-case information obtained by TRAC under the Freedom of Information Act from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (see Table 1).
When monthly 2017 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-14.7%).

Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are down 26.2 percent from levels reported in 2012.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 25, 2017) – The number of unauthorized immigrants living in the United States in 2015 fell below the total at the end of the Great Recession for the first time, with Mexicans continuing to represent a declining share of this population, according to new Pew Research Center estimates based on government data.

There were 11 million unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. in 2015, a small but statistically significant decline from the estimate of 11.3 million for 2009, the last year of the Great Recession. And according to a preliminary 2016 estimate, the unauthorized immigrant population is 11.3 million, which statistically does not show a change from the 2009 or 2015 estimates and is inconclusive as to whether the total unauthorized immigrant population increased, held steady or continued to decrease. (Note: the preliminary 2016 estimate uses a different data source with a smaller sample size and larger margin of error.)

Mexicans have long been the largest origin group among unauthorized immigrants – and the majority for at least a decade – but their numbers have been shrinking since peaking at 6.9 million, or 57% of the total, in 2007. In 2014, they numbered 5.8 million (52% of the total). In 2015, according to the Center’s new estimate, they declined to 5.6 million, or 51% of the total. According to the preliminary 2016 estimate, while the number of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico remained the same at 5.6 million, their share fell to 50% of the total unauthorized immigrant population, which would mark the first time since at least 2005 that Mexicans did not account for a majority of the unauthorized immigrant population.

As the number of Mexicans has decreased, the number of unauthorized immigrants from other parts of the world has increased, particularly from Asia and Central America. The estimated number from countries other than Mexico declined from 5.3 million in 2007 to 5 million in 2009, but grew after that, reaching 5.4 million in 2015. The preliminary 2016 estimate (5.7 million), while higher than the 2009 estimate, is not statistically different from the 2015 estimate.

Pew Research Center estimates are derived from data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) and Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is used when ACS data are not available. The 2016 estimate is considered preliminary because it is derived from the CPS, which has a larger margin of error due to its smaller sample size compared with the ACS. All other Center estimates since 2005 are derived from the ACS.

Matthew L. Kolken is a trial lawyer with experience in all aspects of United States Immigration Law – including deportation defense before Immigration Courts throughout the United States, appellate practice before the Board of Immigration Appeals, the U.S. District Courts, and U.S. Courts of Appeals. He is admitted to practice in the courts of the State of New York, the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and has been a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) since 1997.